Without Doubt (18 page)

“
Macie ordered it all and
hired the muralist. I put it all together while you kids were in
Las Vegas,” she replies giddily.

I feel Declan slip his hands around my waist
and kiss the side of my head.

“
Don’t start crying again,
Sunshine,” Declan says with a laugh. He and his dad scoff at
us—women being women.

“
Oh, leave the girl alone,
it’s perfectly natural for her to cry over something like this. It
was a beautiful gesture and it’s a beautiful room too,” his mom
chastises her husband as she dabs at the corners of her
eyes.

“
Don’t listen to her,
she’s been crying all week over that room,” Mr. James puts in,
popping the tops to a couple beers.

I dab my eyes too and walk further into the
kitchen to check my phone. Dec grabs his beer from the counter and
joins his dad at the breakfast bar while he sucks on a lemon wedge.
His mom and I start busying ourselves in the kitchen while we wait
on the delivery of our dinner. This is it. This is the family life
I never really had, the family that I always wanted and envied from
Jackson and Max’s families. Although they tried and did a great job
of including Harper and me, this is different. This is legit.

Aubrey brings Harper not long after Declan’s
parents arrive and they both flip over her. I can tell that they
don’t want to make a huge deal over her looking like Declan and
Macie, and therefore Nancy as well, but they both have difficulty
ignoring it. It doesn’t bother me in the least; it’ll just make
life easier for Harper to be raised in this non-traditional
family.

Nancy and I both were itching to show Harper
her new room so Dec and his dad, Mark, follow us girls up the
stairs to her new princess room. Just as I predicted, she flips.
She walks every inch of her room and inspects everything. Nancy
takes more pictures than really necessary but I don’t blame her,
it’s adorable to watch. Nancy and I cry. Declan shows Harper
everything she might have missed and Mark watches with a proud
smile on his face and a loving hand on his wife.

I’m in love. I’m in love with this gorgeous,
generous, warm-hearted, kind man. I’m in love with his parents, my
daughter, my new home and my new life as a whole.

Ava

Two weeks
later…

I’m thinking this is
probably the worst idea I have ever had in my life. I should have
stuck to my original guns about this and just stayed home. Instead,
I talked myself into feeling guilty for not supporting my boyfriend
if I forever avoided his fights, so I’m here and all of this angst
and excitement is about to drive me nuts. I can hear everyone and I
mean
everyone
betting on Declan’s fate tonight.

I was prepared for a small, hidden little
affair. Nope. I was dead wrong. It’s like a stadium in here, layers
and layers of seats all aiming towards the ring. There are so many
people here, men and women both, all yelling, and I can hardly hear
myself think. The crowd is riled up and going crazy, the lights are
dim accept for those surrounding the ring where I will watch a man
intentionally harm Declan and Declan do the same to his opponent. I
feel sick.

The music is overwhelming and I’m beginning
to regret not telling Dec that I was coming tonight so I could
maybe be in the back with him instead of getting swallowed up in
this insanity out here. I’m close to the ring and although the
people around me are still excited and anxious for this fight, I
feel way more comfortable being down here than I would be up top.
They look extra nuts up there. The guy sitting to my left isn’t
yelling at least, a calm, good looking guy in his late twenties, I
would guess. He’s pretty chill but paying close attention to
everything and still conversing with his buddy on his left.

Somehow I manage to get lost enough in my
own head and miss the fighters’ entrance. They’re all up in the
ring already, including girls that are practically naked. I really
should have YouTubed these fights and better prepared myself for
this crap. Just seeing Dec up there eases up some of my anxiety,
but not all of it.

“
You all right over there,
sweetheart?” Mr. Chill on my left asks coolly. He has a friendly
smile and pretty eyes.

“
No, not really.” I laugh
at myself for once again spitting shit out of my mouth. “I had no
idea what to expect when I came here, but this wasn’t it and now
I’m sorta freaking out,” I finish honestly. Why not?

He reaches over and grasps my hand and my
body freezes. That’s not a good idea.

“
Who are you here to
watch? James or Smith?”

“
James,” I offer
distractedly, keeping my eyes on Declan preparing for his fight. I
can see all the other guys down there with him too—Grey, Keegan,
Luca, and several others I’ve never seen before.

“
Ahh yes, should have
known. All the ladies come to watch James.” He laughs a little
louder than necessary and slyly I remove my hand from
his.

“
They do?”

He nods his head a couple times then taps
his buddy to get his attention. “Hey, why are there so many females
here tonight?”

His friend looks at him like he just asked
the world’s most ridiculous question. “To see James fight.”

“
See?” His amused
expression hasn’t once left his face.

Great. I haven’t been in a relationship in
years, when I finally commit to one it has to be to a well-known
guy that women throw themselves at and men pay to see fight.

“
I’m Ashton Clark, I’m a
co-owner of the gym that James trains at.” He reaches his hand out
for me to shake and I take it timidly.

I don’t offer him my name because it doesn’t
even cross my mind when I see that everyone is clearing out of the
ring except Declan and his opponent. This must be it.

I’ve hardly seen Declan since we arrived
home from Vegas. He had all of my things brought over that next day
and I’ve been settling in while he trained for this fight. Moving
in with him has been perfect, but then again, the only time I see
him is sometimes for dinner, a shower before bed, sleeping, and
then a shower in the morning. Then I go back to sleep and he goes
to the gym. Repeat.

I’ve checked out again,
because now they look like they’re hugging but its not a friendly
hug. The opponent’s knee keeps reaching up and hitting Dec in the
side. They turn around and I can see Dec’s face. Dec gets him down
on the ground and the crowd in here is deafening. He puts his fist
to the other guy’s head, over and over again. I might throw up.
There are a million different scenarios running rampant in my head,
like what the hospital waiting room will look like when they triage
Declan in. How many tears will be shed when his opponent gets
pissed off enough and finally goes psycho on Dec, maybe breaks the
rules and does something to break something on Declan
permanently.
Are there rules?
Oh, God! What if this is just a free for all and
there are no rules?! Do they just beat the hell out of each other
until there’s only one guy left standing? I should’ve been more
prepared. Why didn’t I YouTube this?

And then I see it. A long leg and steady
foot straight to Declan’s head. Declan stumbles back but recovers
quickly, going straight in for what looks like the kill. I turn to
Ashton next to me with a horrified expression. Ashton takes me in
with his eyes from top to bottom since we’re both standing now. “He
just kicked him in the head! Is that legal?” I screech in
horror.

Ashton and his friend both look at me with a
strange look of amusement and horror. Disbelief. “What the hell are
you doing here?” Ashton asks as he laughs and wraps an arm around
me.

“
I honestly have no idea
anymore,” I mutter against his chest because I’m overwhelmed and am
going to embrace his strong protective arm around me. I’m
completely freaked out. I’m freaked out with the probability that
my boyfriend will not finish this fight unscathed. I’m freaked out
that
I
won’t exit
this arena unscathed and now I’m terrified at the idea of this
being my life.

The fight is over before I know it and they
are declaring the win to Declan James. My boyfriend. My boyfriend,
Declan James, who physically fights other men for a living. I’m
spent; thoroughly exhausted. I feel like I just got off the Tower
of Terror ride from Disneyland. I reach down under my seat to grab
my purse and Ashton’s hand lands on my shoulder as I turn to make
my way out in a daze. I turn back around to him and his face looks
concerned.

He leans down in to me so he can speak
closely to my ear. “Do me a favor and give me just a minute. I
don’t want you walking out of here alone but I need to say hello to
some people real quick. I’ll make it fast, I promise.” His
suggestion is a good idea so I nod and accept. He smiles for a
brief second then turns around and talks to the few people standing
next to us.

Declan and the guys are already gone and
while I can’t wait to see him, I have no idea how I’m going to tell
him that I was here and that I hated every minute of it.

It doesn’t take long for Ashton to come back
with a happy smile on his face. Most everybody is cleared out; he
places a hand at my lower back and guides me up the stairs towards
the exit. “You don’t look so well, are you going to be ok?”

“
I don’t know,” I answer
because I honestly don’t.

We continue up the stairs with his hand
protectively in place and just before we reach the top landing, he
asks for my name.

“
Ava,” I say kindly,
trying to recover from my rudeness to this nice man. His face
blanches and his smile disappears and I fear that something
terrible is happening behind me so I turn to look but there’s
nothing out of the ordinary.

“
Shit,” he says quietly
while scrubbing his face with one hand. “As in Declan’s girlfriend
Ava?”

“
Yes,” I whisper,
embarrassed because I can’t figure out what just happened
here.

“
You couldn’t lead with
that? That should be your opening line. Always. Hi, I’m Ava, the
great fighter with a bad temper, Declan James, is my boyfriend and
I live with him.”

People are milling about, not paying us any
attention. Ashton’s stare is boring into me and I feel the tension
radiating between us as I suddenly consider my safety with this
guy. Just as quickly, I erase the worry with the knowledge that he
has a business connection with Declan and seems to hold him at a
pretty high standard.

“
Well that’s not typically
how I identify myself, so that’s probably not going to happen.” I
don’t want to be mad at Ashton. I like Ashton and he owns the gym
that Declan trains at, so he’s an important guy, but if he doesn’t
go back to the Ashton from a minute ago, he’s likely to piss me
off.

“
C’mon, Ava.” He no longer
touches me, he just ushers me to the hallway on the side of the
building. I assume he’s taking me to put me in my car and ship me
off before Declan finds out he was talking to me. Instead, we stop
at a crowd in the hallway and Ashton grabs my hand before pushing
his way through and knocks twice on the door. It opens slowly and I
hear Ashton being greeted by a voice that sounds like
Keegan’s.

“
I have something to
return to Declan,” Ashton says with a smile.

Return? What am I, a lost puppy? I don’t
think so. I try to tug my hand out of his but he just holds on
tighter. We walk in and the room suddenly goes quiet. Greyden,
Keegan and Luca all raise their eyebrows at us but say nothing
before Ashton offers an explanation. Just as he opens his mouth, my
phone rings with Declan’s ring tone.

“
Where is he?” I ask as I
pull out my phone to answer it; Grey motions his head toward the
shower. “Hello?”

“
I miss you. I’m getting
ready to leave right now.” He melts my heart.

A door at the back of the room opens and
Declan walks in with the phone to his ear. There are quite a few
people in here so he doesn’t see me yet but I get the opportunity
to watch him walk towards me and he doesn’t even know it. All of my
worries about his career choice affecting my life have vanished at
the sight of him.

“
I miss you too, I can’t
wait for you to reach me so I can give you a congratulatory
kiss.”

“
I can’t wait either,
baby. Wait, how did you know I won?” Then he sees me. His smile is
bright and beautiful. He slips his phone in his back pocket and
reaches out to swoop me up in a hug. He kisses me soundly before
pulling me back and looking in my eyes. “Did you watch?” he asks,
sounding hopeful.

“
I did.
Congratulations.”

“
Dec, Ashton here brought
her back here for you,” Greyden says in his deep voice. He sounds
angry, which I don’t understand at all.

Declan

Ashton brought Ava back here? That doesn’t
make any sense; she’s never met him before. Ashton looks a little
nervous now that I actually notice him, but Ava doesn’t seem fazed
at all.

“
Your girl came in by
herself. How the hell does she live with you and know absolutely
nothing about what you do?” Ashton explains in a hard and defensive
tone. I can’t decipher what his issue is, but his tone is grating
me in all the wrong ways.

“
Don’t worry about that.
What are you doing with her?” I demand. Ashton Clark is a sly
bastard; a good guy and good businessman, but terrible with women
and I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him to be alone
with Ava.